The Department of Justice filed a motion today to stop the implementation of Texas' unconstitutional "bounty hunter" bill that makes abortions illegal after the first 6 weeks, with no provision for victims of rape or incest. The 39-page filing asks the Court to stop the law from implementation on an emergency basis while litigation continues, saying in part:
"The fundamental question presented in this case is whether States may nullify disfavored constitutional rights by purporting to disclaim their own enforcement authority and delegating enforcement of unconstitutional laws to private bounty hunters. S.B. 8’s use of that scheme has already allowed Texas to nullify this Court’s precedents for six weeks. That state of affairs should not be allowed to persist -- or spread to other States or other rights -- without this Court’s review."
The filing was given to right-wing Justice Samuel Alito, who handles filings from the region covered by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which has ruled in favor of Texas and against the U.S. District Court ruling on October 6. Alito has asked for Texas' response to the DOJ filing by Thursday.
